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1 – 10 of over 1000Amonrat Thoumrungroje and Nang Sarm Siri
Drawing upon the resource-based view this study aims to examine the connections between formal and informal business relationships and resource-bridging and adaptive capabilities…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing upon the resource-based view this study aims to examine the connections between formal and informal business relationships and resource-bridging and adaptive capabilities within the context of foreign subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in Thailand. Based on prior literature emphasizing business network ties as sources of competitive advantage in emerging markets, this study extends the discourse by investigating the moderating effects of technological turbulence, power distance and assertiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a quantitative research approach, using data obtained from a self-administered survey conducted among 168 foreign subsidiaries spanning diverse industries in Thailand. The data were analyzed by using multiple-group structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
Cultivating different types of business ties enables foreign subsidiaries to improve different types of capabilities. While interpersonal relationships (i.e. informal businessties) enable them to develop their abilities to combine various resources (i.e. resource-bridging capability), rigid contractual-based relationships (i.e. formal businessties) help them to be more adaptive (i.e. adaptive capability). These relationships are also contingent upon the levels of technological turbulence, host-country power distance and host-country assertiveness.
Originality/value
This research builds upon prior research on network ties and capability building by delineating the specific nature of capabilities. Contradicting to the previous findings, demonstrating a negative relationship between formal business ties and capabilities, this study found that each type of business tie enables foreign subsidiaries to enhance different types of capabilities under different circumstances. Moreover, this study adopts a lens of host-country national culture rather than home-country culture in investigating the moderating effects of power distance and assertiveness.
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Kassa Woldesenbet Beta, Natasha Katuta Mwila and Olapeju Ogunmokun
This paper seeks to systematically review and synthesise existing research knowledge on African women entrepreneurship to identify gaps for future studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to systematically review and synthesise existing research knowledge on African women entrepreneurship to identify gaps for future studies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper conducted a systematic literature review of published studies from 1990 to 2020 on women entrepreneurship in Africa using a 5M gender aware framework of Brush et al. (2009).
Findings
The systematic literature review of published studies found the fragmentation, descriptive and prescriptive orientation of studies on Africa women entrepreneurship and devoid of theoretical focus. Further, women entrepreneurship studies tended to be underpinned from various disciplines, less from the entrepreneurship lens, mostly quantitative, and at its infancy stage of development. With a primary focus on development, enterprise performance and livelihood, studies rarely attended to issues of motherhood and the nuanced understanding of women entrepreneurship’s embeddedness in family and institutional contexts of Africa.
Research limitations/implications
The paper questions the view that women entrepreneurship is a “panacea” and unravels how family context, customary practices, poverty and, rural-urban and formal/informal divide, significantly shape and interact with African women entrepreneurs’ enterprising experience and firm performance.
Practical implications
The findings and analyses indicate that any initiatives to support women empowerment via entrepreneurship should consider the socially constructed nature of women entrepreneurship and the subtle interplay of the African institutional contexts’ intricacies, spatial and locational differences which significantly influence women entrepreneurs’ choices, motivations and goals for enterprising.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to a holistic understanding of women entrepreneurship in Africa by using a 5M framework to review the research knowledge. In addition, the paper not only identifies unexplored/or less examined issues but also questions the taken-for-granted assumptions of existing knowledge and suggest adoption of context- and gender-sensitive theories and methods.
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Paulina Ines Rytkönen, Wilhelm Skoglund, Pejvak Oghazi and Daniel Laven
The purpose of this study is shed light on the underlying forces behind entrepreneurship within a regional innovation system (RIS) in a remote rural region. The authors examine…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is shed light on the underlying forces behind entrepreneurship within a regional innovation system (RIS) in a remote rural region. The authors examine the following questions: Which are the main underlying forces behind the entrepreneurial process in a rural RIS characterized by traditionally low-tech, small-scale businesses? How can the development of a low-tech regional innovation system be conceptualized?
Design/methodology/approach
The design of the study is based on entrepreneurship theory. Data analysis followed practices used in phenomenography, a research approach used to analyse and identify commonalities and variations in populations' perceptions of a certain phenomenon. Data are composed using semi-structured interviews and a database composed of company information of all firms in the population.
Findings
A proactive mobilization of regional stakeholders and resources can be an important driving force behind the entrepreneurial process and generation of a rural RIS. Innovation can be generated within low-tech industries turning the rural context into an asset. An RIS in a remote rural context can be initiated and orchestrated by regional authorities, but knowledge brokering and orchestration can also be managed by networks of small-scale businesses brought together by mutual benefit and common interests.
Research limitations/implications
Regional innovation systems theory is most often used to study high-tech industries. But by combining regional innovation systems with rural entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship context theory is a fruitful avenue to understand the role of rural entrepreneurship in regional development, even in remote and peripheral regions. Innovation does not need to entail high-tech international environments; it can appear as the result of efforts in low-tech industries in rural and remote environments. The authors’ findings need to be scrutinized; therefore, the authors call for more research on regional innovation systems in rural environments.
Practical implications
It is possible for regional authorities to orchestrate a development process through the actions of a strong regional agent but also by supporting the creation of networks of small businesses that are built on trust and common interests.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature with a new perspective to the study of entrepreneurship and of regional innovation systems. Entrepreneurship research with focus on rural contexts most often highlight limits to entrepreneurship and see entrepreneurship as “just running a business”. A perspective that starts from innovation and innovative behaviour, despite the rural context and embedded resources, helps to generate new knowledge that can enrich the understanding of entrepreneurship and also be the foundation for more precise business development policies in rural settings.
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Thai Pham and Farkhondeh Hassandoust
Information security (InfoSec) policy violations are of great concern to all organisations worldwide, especially in the financial industry. Although the importance of InfoSec…
Abstract
Purpose
Information security (InfoSec) policy violations are of great concern to all organisations worldwide, especially in the financial industry. Although the importance of InfoSec policy has been highlighted for many decades, InfoSec breaches still occur due to a low level of employee compliance and a lack of engagement and competence in high-level management. However, previous studies have primarily investigated the behavioural aspects of InfoSec policy compliance at the individual level rather than the managerial factors involved in constructing InfoSec policy and developing its effectiveness. Thus, drawing on neo-institutional theory and a transformational leadership framework, this research investigated the influence of external mechanisms and transformational leadership on InfoSec policy effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model was implemented using field survey data from professional managers in the financial sector.
Findings
The results reported that neo-institutional mechanisms and transformational leadership shape InfoSec policy effectiveness in an organisation.
Originality/value
This study broadens current InfoSec policy research from an individual level to a managerial perspective and enhances the existing literature on neo-institutional and transformational leadership in the context of InfoSec. It highlights the need to evaluate InfoSec policy based on external factors and to support transformational leadership styles that promote InfoSec policy enforcement and effectiveness.
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Debajani Sahoo, Aditya Shankar Mishra and Hima Bindhu Vannem Reddy
This study aims to explore the motivators of mothers’ experience on their engagement behavior in the case of baby care toiletries. Additionally, the role of Brand trust and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the motivators of mothers’ experience on their engagement behavior in the case of baby care toiletries. Additionally, the role of Brand trust and commitment have also been evaluated.
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual model was empirically tested based on the data collected through a survey using 320 samples from India and 431 samples from Sri Lanka. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
Sensory and behavioral dimensions of brand experience can be considered as key drivers of brand trust and brand commitment among millennial mothers in the context of baby care toiletries. It was observed that brand trust had a significant positive impact on brand commitment. There was a significant relationship between brand trust, brand commitment and customer engagement. It was also inferred that brand loyalty is the consequence of customer engagement.
Practical implications
Marketers should gear up initiatives targeting new mothers through healthy aspects and genuine packaging to strengthen the mother’s trust through periodic uses of the product.
Originality/value
The present study is one of the unique empirical investigations that examine the antecedents of consumer engagement in the less researched context of high inherent risk products like baby toiletries.
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Michele Stasa Ouzký and Ondřej Machek
The goal of this paper is to examine the mediating role of organizational social capital between family firms' organizational culture, characterized by their group vs individual…
Abstract
Purpose
The goal of this paper is to examine the mediating role of organizational social capital between family firms' organizational culture, characterized by their group vs individual orientation and external vs internal orientation, and their performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A structural equation model is developed and tested in a sample of 176 US family firms recruited through Prolific Academic.
Findings
The authors show that group vs individual cultural orientation fosters bonding social capital, while external vs internal cultural orientation fosters bridging social capital. In turn, family firm performance is only enhanced by bridging social capital, not bonding social capital, which appears to have neutral to negative direct performance effects. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that bonding social capital facilitates the establishment of bridging ties, leading to overall positive performance outcomes.
Originality/value
The understanding of how organizational culture influences family business heterogeneity and performance, along with the clarification of how bonding social capital fosters or hinders performance, provides novel insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand the complexities within the unique context of family businesses.
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Shu Fan, Shengyi Yao and Dan Wu
Culture is considered a critical aspect of social media usage. The purpose of this paper is to explore how cultures and languages influence multilingual users' cross-cultural…
Abstract
Purpose
Culture is considered a critical aspect of social media usage. The purpose of this paper is to explore how cultures and languages influence multilingual users' cross-cultural information sharing patterns.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a crowdsourcing survey with Amazon Mechanical Turk to collect qualitative and quantitative data from 355 multilingual users who utilize two or more languages daily. A mixed-method approach combined statistical, and cluster analysis with thematic analysis was employed to analyze information sharing patterns among multilingual users in the Chinese cultural context.
Findings
It was found that most multilingual users surveyed preferred to share in their first and second language mainly because that is what others around them speak or use. Multilingual users have more diverse sharing characteristics and are more actively engaged in social media. The results also provide insights into what incentives make multilingual users engage in social media to share information related to Chinese culture with the MOA model. Finally, the ten motivation factors include learning, entertainment, empathy, personal gain, social engagement, altruism, self-expression, information, trust and sharing culture. One opportunity factor is identified, which is convenience. Three ability factors are recognized consist of self-efficacy, habit and personality.
Originality/value
The findings are conducive to promoting the active participation of multilingual users in online communities, increasing global resource sharing and information flow and promoting the consumption of digital cultural content.
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Taehyung Kim, Chul Chung, Chris Brewster and Sang-Hyeak Yoon
This study aims to examine whether and why subsidiary-unit managers’ prior international work experiences across multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) home and host countries impact…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether and why subsidiary-unit managers’ prior international work experiences across multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) home and host countries impact their subsidiary-unit performance, considering the mediating effect of their advice networks.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey on 222 subsidiary-unit managers (154 parent country nationals [PCNs] and 68 host country nationals [HCNs]) of a Korean MNE operating in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Hungary and Slovakia was conducted. The authors analyzed the data using partial least square structural equation modeling, multigroup analysis and bootstrapping techniques.
Findings
PCN subsidiary managers with more prior international work experience manage better-performing units due to the strength of the manager’s advice networks across local parties. However, for HCN subsidiary managers, this study did not find such mediating roles of the size and strength of their advice networks in the MNE home country.
Originality/value
This study provides novel insights and empirical evidence about the effect of the length of prior international work experience of subsidiary managers on their advice-seeking networks and subsidiary-unit performance. In addition, it draws on and add to social capital theory about how international work experience impacts dealing with local businesses and the relationship with corporate headquarters.
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Iffat Ali Aksar, Amira Firdaus, Jiankun Gong and Saadia Anwar Pasha
The unstoppable and exponential growth of social media use has given rise to concerns about the consequent effects on users. Among the major concerns are the psychological…
Abstract
Purpose
The unstoppable and exponential growth of social media use has given rise to concerns about the consequent effects on users. Among the major concerns are the psychological consequences, which have received considerable academic attention. The current mixed-methods research aims to examine women's social media use and its effects on their psychological well-being in a patriarchal culture, namely Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a mixed-method research methodology. The quantitative section collected data from 240 women and used structural equation modelling to test the proposed hypotheses. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the in-depth interviews with ten women.
Findings
The integration of the findings revealed increased use of social media by women and its beneficial effects (communication and socialisation, escapism and self-presentation), though qualitative findings revealed the cultural implications and obstacles that women face (online anonymity and digital asylum). The study calls attention to women's social media usage patterns and the resulting effects on women's psychological well-being in a low-income country with a patriarchal social structure.
Originality/value
Most research remains limited to Western societies and young populations. The situation is somewhat different in developing economies with traditionally preserved cultures compared to Western societies. This study uniquely examines the influence of social media on psychological well-being in a developing country with a special cultural context.
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Leila Namdarian and Hamid Reza Khedmatgozar
This study aims to elucidate institutional analysis as an effective approach to investigating and designing the multilevel policymaking system of online social networks (OSN) for…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to elucidate institutional analysis as an effective approach to investigating and designing the multilevel policymaking system of online social networks (OSN) for achieving a participatory model.
Design/methodology/approach
The institutional mapping approach has been used to analyze Iran’s OSN multilevel policymaking system. A combination of two matrices, including institutions-institutions and institutions-functions, was used to perform the institutional mapping. Two main steps were taken to draw the mentioned matrices. First, a review of related studies in Iran’s OSN policymaking system was conducted and the policy functions mentioned in these studies were identified and categorized using the meta-synthesis. Second, based on analyzing two policy documents of Iran’s OSN, institutions and their interactions were identified and policy functions were allocated to institutions.
Findings
Based on the results, the most important policy functions in the current OSN policymaking system in Iran are support, regulatory, monitoring and evaluation, business environment development, culture building and promotion, organizing licenses and permissions, policymaking and legislation. Also, the results show that there are shortcomings in this system, some of the most important of which are lack of transparency in regulatory, little work in culture building and promotion, neglect of the training of specialized human resources and research and development, slow development of the business environment and neglecting the role of nongovernmental organizations in policymaking.
Originality/value
By examining and analyzing how different institutions operate within a multilevel policymaking system, the policymaking process and its overall effectiveness can be enhanced. This analysis helps identify any inconsistencies, overlaps or conflicts in the roles and policies of these institutions, leading to a better understanding of how a multilevel policymaking system is organized.
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